Of the 17 changes, the one that has received the most public attention is the Quail Gardens Drive proposal. In recent months, council members have heard from many people who oppose it.

Leslie Smith, who lives on Quail Gardens Court, told the council Wednesday night that she knows the city needs to make the change in order to comply with state law, but said there are several spots along the roadway that are dangerous now.

Those include the entrance to the Sunshine Gardens nursery, the entrance to the San Diego Botanic Garden and the entrance to her housing development, she said.

Lisa Shaffer, who lives near Quail Gardens Drive and is running for a seat on the City Council, said she wants Encinitas to improve pedestrian safety along the roadway.

"Could we have a painted crosswalk somewhere along Quail Gardens Drive? Could we have a pedestrian-activated crosswalk like they have in Del Mar on 101 for those occasions when people are trying to get across this very busy street?" she asked.

Patrick Wheeler, a Kristen Court resident who walks daily along Quail Gardens Drive, said pedestrians don't find it a safe place to walk.

"Anything we can do to make that street more safe would make me happy," he said.

After residents made their appeals, council members voted to increase the speed limit, but recommended that yellow caution signs be installed along the southern end of the roadway between the Encinitas Boulevard intersection and Kristen Court.

They also asked that the city's Traffic Commission look into the pedestrian crossing proposal.

Blough said Thursday that it will likely be several months before the crosswalk item goes before the commission because it also must review the city's proposed updates to the general plan in the coming months.

The curve warning signs will go up when the new speed limit signs are posted, he said. The warning signs will encourage motorists to drive 30 mph in the curvy section of the road, Blough said.

Julian Duval, president and chief executive officer of the botanic garden, said Thursday that he wishes the city had nixed the speed limit increase rather than posting the warning signs.

"That's not the outcome I would have hoped for," Duval said when told of the council vote.

The garden, which had about 190,000 visitors last year, has its main entrance just north of the part of Quail Gardens Drive that will get the curve warning signs, so those signs "might not be doing us much good at all," he said.